1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved cable transporting method and system for the loading, unloading, transporting, and delivery of spools, cable, or wire. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a self-contained trailer which can accommodate variable weights and sizes of spools that are needed to be conveniently transported to the job site.
2. Description of the Background Art
The prior art illustrates a variety of spool handling devices for both transporting and installing various types of cable. There are numerous patents relating to the winding and unwinding of cable from a reel or spool.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,052,096 (Schulze) and U.S. Published Application No. 2002/0003186 (Hinds) represent the general prior art which has utilized predominantly trailers, trucks or other vehicles that have been utilized for mounting the spools. Devices from air motors to hydraulic motors, electric, or other power equipment or sources have been described in the art.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,703,969 (Rayburn) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,585,264 (Miller) show racks for trucks or pickup truck beds. The drawback is that these are permanently mounted units. The high costs of the initial investments in the vehicles is a drawback because the vehicles are only usable for one purpose. This is because of the permanently installed winches and large racks.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,931,902 (Love, Jr.) shows a carrier that transporting heavy reels and the like which includes a pair of laterally spaced, rearwardly extending, wheeled frame beams defining a rearwardly open space for receiving the reel. Uprights are secured to the beams and pivotally support hydraulically actuated, rearwardly directed elongated arms for pivotal movement in vertical planes. Reel axle support bars have upper ends hinged to the arm rearwards and are movable with the arms from a lower lifting position to an upper transporting position. The Love patent shows the use of a rack constructed from channel steel support bars comprising upwardly open notches and laterally directed openings. Openings are cut out of the channel steel leaving a U-shaped notch. The rack relies on gravity and the weight of the spool to hold the spool in place during transport.
In the Love patent, the loading of the spool would need extra mechanical help in order for the spool to be placed into the notch and opening. By maneuvering the spool, the operator can place the left side of the spindle into the left side notch. The right side of the spindle would then have to be retracted toward the spool in order for the right spindle to enter the opposing notch and opening. The spool would have to be supported during the maneuver by an operator or if the spool was larger, a movable mechanical jack. In the Love patent, the hydraulic cylinders must have equal pressure applied to them or the load becomes tilted. Problems with the hydraulic cylinders, such as worn out seals, occur as they tend to age, leaving the arms tilted. The spool could then slide from side to side.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,184,082 and 3,325,118 (Hall), U.S. Pat. No. 5,123,602 (Skalleberg et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,347,761-B1 (Larson) show reel handlers that are utilized for loading and unloading with the use of friction rollers contacting the periphery of the reels.
The use of cable spools or other devices are known in the art for dispensing or installing cable in the ground. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,437,622 (Heider), 4,635,983 (Boland, et al.), 4,643,397 (Munns), 4,726,566 (Boland) and 5,632,470 (Leland) show various devices that are complex assemblies for dispensing or installing cable with powered hydraulic drives or other powered spooling systems.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,332,166 (Kepes) shows a device for stringing and unstringing reels or spools for cable, wire or other numerous embodiments that are non-mobile.
Heretofore, there has been prior art relating to mechanisms that handle, lift, load, stack and transport hay bales by clamping and lifting stacks of bales. These devices are connected to trailers, tractors, other traction devices, farm vehicles, trucks and other equipment or vehicles. Most of the devices are utilizing hydraulic power for lifting. The engaging and holding arms clasp the bales attached at the bale-lifting arms ends with metal plates attached to their inner side ends. Forward projecting tines and bale engaging members assist in securing the bale from the inward end of the frame assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,867,390 (Anrig) shows the use of a conventional hand winch mounted on the platform at one side and a power driven winch mounted on the platform, one end of a flexible member or rope secured to the hand winch drum and a portion wound thereon with the rope extending rearwardly and over a pulley or rotatably mounted adjacent the rear ends of the rail. Anrig's patent describes the use of a rope and pulley system, powered by either a hand or a power winch, but they are used in an unconventional way where they are both utilized at the same time, one moving and the other acting as an anchor. They are using pulleys to gain mechanical advantage when lifting a spool onto the trailer.
Still other machines are designed to just install the cable or wind the cable back on the spool.